Why San Miguel Totolapan and the Sierra de Guerrero are key territories for drug trafficking

The Tlacos maintain a frontal dispute once morest the Familia Michoacana in several regions of Guerrero. (Special)

On the followingnoon of February 19, a convoy from Los Tlacos perpetrated a violent ambush once morest a group of hitmen from the Familia Michoacana who were entrenched in Las Tunas, a town in the upper area of ​​the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero.

You may be interested in: Clash between Los Tlacos and Familia Michoacana leaves 17 dead in San Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero

Initially there was talk of a death toll of 17. A day later, the State Prosecutor’s Office only recognized the presence of five bodies. By the morning of February 21, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that there were at least 12 people dead.

The attack was not an isolated event. A month earlier, on January 27, a Familia Michoacana commando executed and burned five people in that same municipality. Days later, he announced a hunt once morest Los Tlacos in San Miguel Totolapan and General Heliodoro Castillo.

You may be interested: Los Tlacos threaten Fredy Vázquez, mayor of San Miguel Totolapan, following confronting the Familia Michoacana

For at least a couple of years, both criminal groups have carried out a series of increasingly bloody offensives with the intention of taking over the territory.

San Miguel Totolapan is a municipality located in the Sierra de Guerrero, in the Tierra Caliente region. There, in October 2022, a massacre was perpetrated that left 20 people dead, including Mayor Conrado Mendoza Almeda.

San Miguel Totolapan is located in the Tierra Caliente region of Guerrero. (Infobae Mexico/Jovani Pérez)

Preliminary reports indicated that the Familia Michoacana, led by José Alfredo ‘El Fresa’ and Johnny ‘El Pez’ Hurtado Olascoaga, would have been behind such an event.

You may be interested: These are the weapons used in the massacre of San Miguel Totolapan, Guerrero

Throughout 2023, residents of towns such as Lindavista and Plan Verde reported multiple attacks committed by this organization. The Tlacos replicated these events in the ranchería of San Juan Tehuehuetla.

These territories are characterized by being located in areas that are difficult to access. Although each community is close to each other, the conditions of the mountains represent a major obstacle for authorities.

An example of this was the fact that the Guerrero Prosecutor’s Office took more than 24 hours to arrive in Las Tunas to begin investigating the most recent massacre.

The demarcations of that area represent an area of ​​great interest for criminal groups due to various factors. Firstly, they are bordered by the Balsas River, a body of water that crosses the state and flows into Puerto Lázaro Cárdenas, a key point for the reception of chemical precursors that the FM has under its control.

To the southeast of San Miguel Totolapan is Tlacotepec, the municipal seat of Heliodoro Castillo and the main bastion of Los Tlacos. This group is interested in maintaining its position in the area, while the Familia Michoacana seeks to displace it.

According to estimates by priest José Filiberto Velázquez, director of the ‘Minerva Bello’ Human Rights Center, around five thousand Guerrero residents are at the mercy of the conflicts between both criminal structures. At the same time, the authorities have not responded to the request to establish a permanent Army surveillance post.